Boston launching ad blitz to reduce greenhouse gases

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Boston will debut a citywide advertising campaign this week that uses prominent landmarks and ­local athletes to encourage residents and businesses to adopt more environmentally sustainable habits, like driving less and recycling more.

For the rest of the week, the Zakim Bridge, the Prudential Tower, and the Atlantic Wharf spire will be lit green. Print and digital advertisements will be displayed across Boston, including on Fenway Park’s ­gigantic center-field video screen, the marquee outside the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, and throughout the MBTA system.

“Ninety percent of Boston is less than five minutes from a train or bus stop,” says one ad. “Take a ride, save the air.”

Another ad urges people to use revolving doors when possible, because standard doors that swing open allow about eight times as much air to ­escape, increasing the use of ­indoor heating and cooling.

Other ads say that recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a cellphone for about three days.

“We must engage everyone in our city in this effort,” Menino said in a statement. “We have to make the sustainability issue understandable to everyone.’’

The six-week marketing effort is being paid for through more than $1 million worth of donated ad space; about $100,000 in private fund-raising by Boston’s “Green Ribbon Commission,” a group of business and civic leaders working with the city on sustainability efforts; and through time donated by the Mullen ad firm, which designed the promotion.

The campaign centers on “Greenovate Boston,” a sustainability brand Menino conceived a year ago.